Variety (December 1952)

Wednesday, December 3, 1952 PftRIETY « t VAUBfiWLLE 47 Miami Operators Trot Out Slide Rules To Figure Bivvy in Tall Competition By LARY SOLLOWAY Miami Beach, Dec. 2. Greater Miami cafe, hotel, res- taurant, bar-lounge and retail business is gearing for the annual “biggest” season in history. This is in face of the fact that there are more operations in all fields ready to go than ever before, with a fierce competitive battle in pros- pect. It’s a granted fact that the spread along hotel rSw from the Ft. Lauderdale line down to this sector may thin patronage in too many instances. On the cafe side, the same pros- pect of tough battling for the spender faces the scores of ops from the small to the big, includ- ing the hotel-cafes which can ab- sorb losses, marking their red items off to "publicity.” That all the big straight niteries will run is realized, despite the litigation in which some are still involved, with sky-high payoffs being of- fered the draw acts. Copa City, though leggil entan- glements are still to be worked out. has set its first show to open during Xmas holidays (Jack Carter, Ames Bros., Szonys, pro- duction, etc.), to be followed by Marlin & Lewis—once their pic commitments are straightened out —with Jimmy Durante also skedded. Murray Weinger, who will manage the spot he built, was in New York looking for further deals on toppers to keep the plushery in the "biggest” category among the area’s glitter belts. Status of Beachcomber Question mark is the Beach- comber. Current status has Ed Fielding, Philadelphia steel biggie, aligning with the Schuyler brothers in the operation. Negotiations were going on with Harry Rich- man to host and head up the show, with possible change of name to Club Richman. However, Fielding is the type of backer who likes his own ideas, basically plenty of femmes, lush production and the type of name that will bring them in on novelty angles or definitely proved draw value. No matter what, the spot will be in opera- tion and provide plenty of compe- tition, 'thanks to Fielding’s re- lease from last year’s lease clause which prevented him from book- ing any names while the Schuylers were associated with the Copa. (Continued on page 48) Brighton Hotel, A.C., Sold For $2,000,000; Corp. To Expand Cafe Talent Atlantic City, Dec. 2. A syndicate headed by prexy Morris Corson, and including Samuel Corson as v.p.-treasurer and George Rosen as secretary, has bought the beachfront Brighton .Hotel. Seller was the Indiana- Boardwalk Corp. headed by Alan M. Graff. Sales price was reported as approximately $2,000,000. Corson said his syndicate will begin a complete renovation and remodeling program, together with a new promotion built upon the service standards established by the hotel in former years. Repre- sented also in plans for the new operation is the Punch Bowl Liquor Sales Corp., with Daniel Cerson as prexy and Robert Kramer as treasurer, which will operate the Punch Bowl and the nitery. Gerson and Kramer also are operators of the Latin Casino in Philadelphia. Management of the hotel -will be turned.'over to the Corson Operating Co., with Morris Corson as prez of this group also. Included in the sale are such hotel properties as the Hotel Brighton pool, cabana colony, Brighton Cottage, once home of the Press Club of Atlantic City and known to many who have cov- ered stories in the city; a laundry and large parking lot. ^ The Punch Bowl Liauor Sales Corp.. as operators of-'the nitery. already has made plans to bring top talent here during the season to compete with other cafes and hotel grills,. The corporation has secured ap- proval of the city for transfer of j the liquor license held by Angelo Melandra as receiver in bank- i uptcy for the hotel, but only after $6,000 owned the resort in luxury and other municipal taxes is paid. Fort Wayne Piston Co. Sets Up Show Biz Org Fort Wayne, Dec. 2. Zollner Production, Inc., has been organized by Zollner Pistons to handle projects other than bas- ketball and fastball. Zollner Pis- tons has sponsored "Holiday on Ice” for five years and recently presented the "Biggest Show of 1952” (Nat "King” Cole-Sarah Vaughan-Sten Kenton). It brings the .. "Olsen & Johnson-Skating Vanities” roller revue to the Coli- seum for a six-day run opening tonight (Tues.) and the Gene Autry show to the same arena Thanks- giving afternoon. ‘Holiday* 108G, Toledo 11, I I PIT I it ■•f • A f If rt v n g Overtaking Last Year’s 12j AllVA Mltying OpS 01 YeaHJld FaCt Plenty U.S. Names Ready & Willing (for Top Coin) To Play London Palladium Enough top U. S. names are will- ing to play the Palladium, London, to insure a variety season at that house, according to Harry Foster, head of the Foster Agency, Lon- don, who returned to New York this week after a quickie to the Coast. ‘ Foster, whose firm reps the William Morris Agency in Eng- land, declared that prices being asked by topliners are on the same level as last season. The Palladium is currently play- ing pantomime and wiH resume the variety season in mid-March. Forster said he’ll confer with Moss Empires’ managing director Val Parnell when he gets back. They will go over the list of availabili- ties and then line up their schedule. Foster stated that two cafe acts have been set for Coronation week. Evelyn Knight has been signed for the Bagatelle and Noel Coward will make a return trip to the Cafe de Paris. Foster is slated to fly back to London at the end of the week. Toledo, Dec. .. "Holiday on Ice,” at Toledo Sports Arena, Nov. 22-30, for 11 performances, grossed $108,640 be- fore taxes, with 53,000 attending. leer had sellouts Friday and Saturday night and the Sunday matinee, with additional seats be- ing installed, and chalked up,its best record of its six annual visits to the Arena. Scale was $1.50 to $3. It scored a 6% gain over last year’s stay. Expiration as Key Steo in Welfare Plan Ex-Dancer Sues Cafe Chicago, Dec. 2. In an unusual "invasion of pri- vacy” action of precedental impli- cation, Mrs. Lettia O’Brien Stadel- mann has filed a $100,000 suit against the Gayety Cafe and its owner, Jack Spiegel, in Cook Coun- try Circuit Court here. She charges that a picture of her, fully clothed, is used for display purposes among other photos of scantily clad entertainers, some in suggestive poses. Retired dancer, who worked from 1935 to 1942, asserts that she worked only the better niteries and never at the Gayety and that the display has caused her much embarrassment. Chi Court Rules Vs. Cafes on Sales Tax of $239,683 Chicago, Dec. 2. Judge Harry Fisher, Cook Coun- ty Circuit Court, last week ordered 17 more niteries to pay the Illinois sales tax of $239,683. Jurist four weeks ago made a similar ruling, asking six other cafes to cough up $70,953. Action continues the upholding of the State Supreme Court’s ruling that cafes are not entitled to with- hold taxes on their claim of being in the entertainment business pri- marily. rather than in the food and drink field, both of which are sub- ject to levies. However, the 23 clubs and hotels are filing suit in Circuit Court ask- ing that the amount of tax only be applied to that part which is spent for food and liquor and that which pertains to entertainment be non-taxable. They also seek to leave cover charges untouched. Among the 17 spots hit by the latest decision are the Ivanhoe, $63,806; Math Igler’s Casino, $16,- 783; Club Alabam $12,272, and sev- eral rooihs in the Hotel Sherman, $96,640. Cleve. Quartet’s Cafe Buy for Own Showcase Cleveland, Dec. 2. Musical comedy team of Recchi iBros. & Greta, which has been doubling between TV and local niteries, has bought a cafe of its own. Quartet took over DeLiberos Cafe, formerly operated by orch- ster Don Anthony, and plan to fur- nish all entertainment themselves. Composed of three musicians and girl singer, they will continue ap- pearing on the Old Dutch telecasts Mondays over WEWS. Berle Angling for Cafes As Miami Commuter; To The American Guild of Variety Ariists is seeking to negotiate most of its minimum basic agreements as one step in its campaign to get its new welfare program rolling. Union is now sending out regis- tered letters to many cafe owners notifying them that the contract now in effect will expire at the end of the year and a new contract will be negotiated. Cafe ops getting this notification are holding union contracts that ! have long expired but were con- j tinued on a year-to-year basis with ! a 30-day cancellation clause. Newer j agreements are not affected. I Ostensibly, reason for the cancel- ; lation is the fact that many work- ; ing conditions must be upgraded, ' and minimums in the pacts now | being cancelled are "unrealistic” i in that they do not take into con- sideration the increased living costs mm a VYWYTY Y^ Y% 4** uiv uiui Luaeu u viug vuokd Ml WW <5 rPf KpUPrlf: since thev were negotiated. How- Ifl.tf. IY TV o 1 U DdllCIU evgr the imporlant by-product will SUNDAY SHUTOUT HITS SOUTH JERSEY CAFES Gloucester, N. J., Dec. 2. The New Jersey Superior Court dissolved a temporary restraining order permitting Gloucester tap- rooms and cafes to remain open two weekends following the "dry” victory in the Nov. 4 elections, which voted a Sunday closing for this city. The injunction had been obtained by the Gloucester City Licensed Beverage Assn., representing 35 bars and four cafes, after the ban on Sunday sales was voted in a referendum, 3,423 to 3,152. A re- count of the vote asked by the liquor men failed to change the tally. Cafes offering floor shows are expected to lower their enter- tainment budgets, since South Jersey clubs depend in large mea- sure on weekend trade from dry Pennsylvanians. Miami Beach, Dec. 2. Milton Berle, vacationing here at the Saxony Hotel, set a date with the Police and Firemen’s Benevolent Society to emcee their annual charity affair at Miami Beach Kennel Club. He’ll replace Walter Winchell, who in past years made the shindig his top choice on the benefit agenda. With it, Berle is mulling offers from the big niteries—and one ho- tel—for a five or six-day appear- *ance during the fourth-week hiatus from his TV chores. At any rate, he’s making the Saxony his sun- rest spot every month. Benefit show will occur at height of season, probably at end of Feb- ruary. Deal was thoroughly exploit- ed via local newspaper-pic breaks and full coverage by WTVJ cam- eras, with gag scenes covering vis- its to police station and ride with fire trucks around town. Under- stood calls for tickets started com- ing in when the Sunday night (30) telecast featuring the films was completed, just prior to the Winch- ell newscast from New York. Seattle Delays Action On Fate of Cafe License Seattle, Dec. 2. The City Council here deferred action on revocation of the cabaret cafe-dance license for the Wagon Wheel, downtown nitery, after numerous witnesses, including Rev. A. G.'Colbourne, rector of St. Cle- ment’s Episcopal Church, testified the establishment had been well- conducted. The Council had ordered* a nix of the license at the police depart- ment’s request. Police officers had asserted, that the operators, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Ecker, had been uncooperative and had interfered with police efforts to check serv- icemen’s ages. OUT SOON! The 47th Anniversary Number Oi Forms closing shortly Usual Advertising rates prevail Special exploitation, advantages Copy and space reservations may be sent to any Variety office HEW YORK 34 154 W. Uth St. HOLLYWOOD 29 4311 Yucca Sr. 0 CHICAGO 11 412 N. Michigan Av«. LONDON, W. C. 2 S St. Martin's Mac* Trafalgar Square be the institution of its welfare program. It’s an open secret that there is considerable resistance by cafe owners and club-date bookers to the union's welfare program tax of $1 per club date; $2.50 weekly for steady engagements in the indoor field, and $3.50 weekly for steady engagements in the outdoor field. For these sums, to be paid by the employer, the union will purchase insurance at the rate ’of 40c. per club date and $2.50 for a weekly engagement. Act gets a $7,500 acci- dent insurance policy. AGVX is expected to have a dif- ficult time negotiating individual agreements. Since its June conven- tion in Atlantic City, union has frowned upon negotiating with groups. It prefers to deal with ea^h operator or agency individually. It may take a long time to evolve bi- lateral agreements between oper-„ ator and union. However, AGVA spokesmen feel that the task will be made easier by the fact that fringe benefits for welfare programs are accepted in most industries and should be made part of show business contracts as well. Aussie’s David Martin In U.S. Eyeing Ice Talent In Super-Bike Sked David N. Martin, managing di- rector of the Tivoli circuit, Aus- tralia, and currently in the U.S,, to line up skating talent for a new edition of "Ice Follies,” which has been running for three years Down Under, faces one of the toughest schedules ever assigned any visit- ing showman. During his casing of ice talent with his producer, Ar- mand Perren, he’ll traverse the greater part of the country looking at shows. Martin and Perren will start Fri- day (5) by seeing "Ice Capades” in Hershey, Pa., Saturday in Syr- acuse, "Ice Follies;” "Hollywood Ice Revue,” Sunday, Milwaukee; Monday, Chicago, the icer at the Conrad Hilton Hotel, and Tuesday, "Skating Vanities” in Kansas City. They’ll gander the acts and rou- tines and will then ask Eddie El- kort, head of the N.Y. office of Lew & Leslie Grade Agency, to pact the desirable talent. Grade Agency reps the Tivoli circuit in 'the U.S. Martin has also set the London legiters, "Zip Goes a Million” and "Affairs of State,” for Aussie pre- sentation. Martin observed that it costs more money to produce shows these days, but runs are much longer. New revues must be better than they have ever been to make the grade, but returns are greater. He said that the Tommy Trinder show will achieve a run of 33 weeks, beating the previous rec- ord-holder, "Tourist Trade,” by 10 weeks. Martin would like to use more U.S. headliners, but the eco- nomics of the two countries qre . different. In Aussie, he stated, an ; act works steadily, while in the ; U.S. employment is more sporadic ; and performers must have higher ! salaries. He feels that steady em* i oloyment sho^d be a factor in the alarics asked. IVIimi Warren Trio set for the Copaeabann Lounge, N. Y., starting l tomorrow (ThursJ.